1Kings 2:12-20,
(12) When Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David, with his sovereignty firmly established, (13) Adonijah, son of haggith, went to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon. "Do you come as a friend?" she asked. "Yes," he answered, (14) and added, "I have something to say to you." She replied, "Say it." (15) So he said "You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel expected me to be king. But the kingdom escaped me and became my brother's, for the Lord gave it to him. (16) But now there is one favor I would ask of you. Do not refuse me." And she said, "Speak on." (17) He said, "Please ask King Solomon, WHO WILL NOT REFUSE YOU, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my wife." (18) "Very well", replied Bathsheba, "I will speak to the king for you."
(19) Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and THE KING STOOD UP TO MEET HER AND PAID HER HOMAGE. Then he sat down on his throne, AND A THRONE WAS PROVIDED FOR THE KINGS MOTHER, WHO SAT AT HIS RIGHT. (20) "There is one small favor I would ask of you," she said. "DO NOT REFUSE ME." "ASK IT, MY MOTHER," the king said to her, "FOR I WILL NOT REFUSE YOU."

Elucidation:

1. Adonijah knows the King will not refuse the Queens request, vs 17
2. Queens and Kings sit on thrones, vs 19.
3. Kings stand and pay homage to Queens, keeping the 4th commandment to honor your father and mother, vs 19.
4. Solomon, not even knowing his mother's request, will not refuse her, vs 20.
5. Would Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, refuse a request by His mother, the Queen of Heaven?

1. 1Kings 15:3, "And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being Queen..."
2. 2Chron 15:16, "And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king, he removed her from being Queen..."
3. Psalms 45:10, "...the Queen stands at your right hand."
4. Daniel 5:10, "Now the Queen...came into the banquet house..." The Queen was the mother of King Belshazzar, see Dan 5:2.
5. Jeremiah 13:18 (NAB), "Say to the king and to the queen mother: come down from your throne; From your heads fall your magnificent crowns."
6. 2Kings 10:13, "...we are going down to visit the princes and the family of
   the Queen Mother."

Who is the King in the New Testament, of the seed of David, of the seed of Solomon?
Jesus Christ is, Matthew 2:2, John 18:33-37.

Who is the Mother of Jesus Christ?
Mary is, Luke 2:7.

Jesus Christ is the King of Kings, Rev 19:16, the King of Heaven and earth.

Mary, His Mother, is the Queen of Heaven and earth.

Jeremiah 31:22,
"For the Lord has created a new thing upon the earth; a woman shall compass a man."

Elucidation:

1. What 'new thing' has the Lord created?
2. The woman in question will bring forth a savior, a one of a kind.

Isaiah 7:14,
"Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel."

Luke 1:34,37-38,
(34) "How shall this happen since I do not know man?"..... (37) "For nothing shall be impossible with GOD." (38) "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."

Elucidation:

1. A 'sign' as stated in Isaiah is interpreted as an unusual event.
2. A virgin conceiving, as in Luke, is a very unusual event. It is the 'sign'.
3. Mary, in perfect obedience to the Lord, gave her consent.

Joel 3:2 (NAB),
"Even upon the servants and handmaids, in those days, I will pour out My Spirit."

Luke 1:34-35,38,
(34) "How can this be since I know not man?"... (35) "...the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of GOD." ...Mary said, (38) "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

Isaiah 7:14,
"...Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son..."

Songs 4:12,
"You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride, an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed."

Ezekiel 44:2-3,
"And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut and it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord the GOD of Israel has entered in by it, and it shall be shut, for the Prince Himself shall sit in it, to eat bread before the Lord..."

Wisdom 9:5,
"For I am your servant, and the son of your handmaid, a weak man, and of short time, and falling short of the understanding of judgment and laws."

Exodus 2:5,
"Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to bathe, while her maids walked along the river bank. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it."

Judith 11:5-6, and 12:4,
(11:5) Judith answered him, "Listen to the words of your servant, and let your handmaid speak in your presence. I will tell no lie to my lord this night, (11:6) and if you follow out the words of your handmaid, GOD will give you complete success, and my lord will not fail in any of His undertakings."...(12:4) Judith answered him, "As surely as you, my lord, live, your handmaid will not use up her supplies till the Lord accomplishes by my hand what he has determined."


Elucidation:

1. Isaiah prophesies that a virgin shall give birth to a son.
2. 'Handmaid' is mentioned only once in the N.T. in Lk 1:38.
3. 'Handmaid' is mentioned over 40 times in the O.T..
In Joel 3:2 (2:29 in some other Bibles), the Holy Spirit is poured out over handmaids.
4. The Holy Spirit overshadows the Virgin Mary, the handmaid of the Lord.
5. Ezekial confirms Isaiah's prophesy, and those verses also refer to her perpetual virginity.
6. Songs 4 attests also to the perpetual virginity of Mary.
7. In Wisdom 9, Solomon affirms that his mother, the Queen, is the handmaid of the Lord. Mary, the Queen, and the Mother of GOD, is also the handmaid of the Lord.
8. Exodus 2:5, Moses, who prefigures Christ, is rescued by a handmaid. Later all of Israel is rescued by Moses.
9. Judith, the handmaid, saves all Israel from invasion by the Assyrians, and  she is portrayed as the 'Defender of Israel'.

Exodus 40:21,34-35,
(21) "He brought the Ark into the dwelling and hung the curtain veil, thus screening off the Ark...(34) Then the cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the dwelling. (35) Moses could not enter the meeting tent, because the cloud settled down upon it and the glory of the Lord filled the dwelling."

Luke 1:35,
"...the Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; and therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of GOD."

Elucidation:

1. The word, 'overshadow', used in Luke, is the same as the verb, 'covered', used in Exodus, to describe how the Lord 'filled' the tabernacle.
2. The Ark of the Covenant contained manna (food), the rod of Aaron (power), and the Ten Commandments (the Word).
3. Mary carried the Word of GOD, the Power of GOD, and the Bread come down from heaven.

2Samuel 6:9,
"And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying, How shall the Ark of the Lord come to me?"

Luke 1:43,
"And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

Elucidation:

1. In 2Sam, David asked regarding the Ark which contained the Word of GOD written on stone tablets.
2. In Luke 1, Elizabeth asked regarding the new Ark which contained the
   Word of GOD in the womb of Mary.

2Samuel 6:12-14,
"...David went and brought away the Ark of GOD...into the city of David with joy....And David danced with all his might before the Lord."

Luke 1:41,
"And it came to pass, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe in her womb lept."

Elucidation:

1. David danced before the Ark of the Covenant containing the Word of GOD written on stone tablets.
2. St. John the Baptist, lept in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, as he was before the
 New Ark of the Covenant, Mary, who held the Word of GOD in her womb.

Romans 5:18-19,
"...Just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous." (NAB)

Elucidation:

1. These verses describe the relationship between Adam and Christ.
2. However they also describe the relationship between Eve and Mary.
3. Eve was the disobedient one (Genesis 3:6), even before Adam sinned.
4. Mary was the obedient one (Luke 1:38), even before Jesus was born.

Revelations 11:19,
"And the temple of GOD in heaven was opened, and there was seen the ark of His covenant in His temple..."

Revelations 12:1,
"And a great sign appeared in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars."

Elucidation:

1. The 'Ark of His Covenant' as seen in heaven was not the wooden ark of the Old Testament, but the 'New Ark of the Covenant', the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is shown by the very next verse.
2. The word 'And' as the first word of Rev 12:1, ties that verse immediately to the verse preceeding it, Rev 11:19.
3. A crown upon her head is the sign of a Queen.
4. Twelve stars could mean, the twelve Apostles, or the twelve tribes of Judah.
5. This image of a woman clothed with the sun and a moon under her feet, fits perfectly with the miraculous image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531.
6. The 'Great Sign' is the Blessed Virgin Mary.
7. The 'Woman' mentioned in Rev 12:1 is the woman of Genesis 3:15, and of John 2:4, and of
John 19:26. She is the 'Woman' in the first book of the Bible, and the 'Woman' in the last book of the Bible.

Revelations 12:14,
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent."

Elucidation:

1. The 'Woman', as already determined, is the Blessed Virgin Mary.
2. She was carried not under her own power, but of an external power to another place.
3. This fits with the Assumption.
4. Time, and times, and a half time, is mentioned in Dan 7:25, and 12:7 also.
Time, is all the time from Adam until the birth of Christ, or about 4000 years. Times is the short period of time in which Christ walked on earth. A half time would be half of the 4000 years or 2000 years from the time of the crucifixion. We seem to be close to that time now.

Revelations 12:17,
"And the dragon was angered at the woman, and went away to wage war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of GOD, and hold fast the testimony of Jesus."

Elucidation:

1. The dragon is the ancient serpent of Gen 3:1-15, as shown in Rev 12:9.
2. The dragon was angered at the woman, whom we know is The Blessed Virgin Mary.
3. This is shown in Gen 3:15, when GOD puts 'enmity' between the woman and the serpent.
4. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the spiritual Mother of us all as shown in John 19:27. That makes us, the body of Christ, the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of GOD, and who hold fast the testimony of Jesus.
5. Testimony of Jesus means, 'all such declarations made by Jesus whether oral or written'.
6. No one can deny that satan is waging war right now with the Church which Jesus Christ founded.

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Please continue with Part II of this subject, O' Daughter of Zion...

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Written by Bob Stanley, November 15, 1998
Updated March 20, 2001

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